So what is the history of the Negev city and who lives there?

Sderot was founded in 1951 and was then just a small town next to the Gevim-Dorot transit camp. Kurdish and Persian refugees made up most of the first batch of settlers who lived in tents and shacks for four years before more permanent buildings were constructed in 1954.

Over the next few years, many more immigrants would arrive, particularly from Morocco and Romania. With the increased population, Sderot was declared as a local council in 1958. During the 1990’s, the town’s size doubled with the arrival of thousands of people from the then Soviet Union. In 1996, Sderot was formally declared as a city.

The city lies just one kilometre from the Gaza Strip border which is the biggest reason why it has borne the brunt of continued Islamic aggression. Since the year 2000, which was the start of the Second Intifada, Sderot has been under constant rocket barrage. Between June 2007 and February 2008, a total of 771 rockets and 857 mortar bombs were hurled at the city and surrounding areas, which is an average of four each and every day.

This unimaginable stress has caused both physical and emotional damage, as well as a population drain. Around 20% of the city’s population, mainly the middle classes, have left. Close to 30% of people suffer from post traumatic stress disorder.

The construction of bomb shelters and the implementation of the “Red Color” alarm system, which warns of incoming missiles, has done much to save lives but it’s still an awful position for any civilian population to be in.